An independent review of the UK's system for the recall of unsafe products has been published, followed by the official response of the UK government.
You may remember that we first blogged about the review in January. The independent review was carried out by broadcaster and leading consumer campaigner Lynn Faulds Wood. It was launched on 13th March 2015 under the previous government. It sought contributions through a list of questions under 5 key areas -
- Enforcement of the current regime
- The effectiveness of information sharing systems
- The role of business
- Consumer understanding
- Future technology
By the close of the review on 30th April we had received forty written responses from a range of stakeholders – manufacturers, market surveillance authorities, legal firms, importers, trade associations and government departments. In addition, Lynn chaired two stakeholder focus groups at BIS, attended various seminars, and held face-to-face meetings.
Lynn finished her review in October 2015 and has come up with eight recommendations which she considers, if taken forward, could provide the UK with a much improved product recall system. Anna Soubry, the Minister for Small Business, Industry & Enterprise, which includes consumer product safety, has taken the review very seriously; the Minister believes government cannot act alone and is keen to capitalise on the level of enthusiasm and involvement shown by stakeholders throughout the course of the review.
The Minister is also keen to point out that this is the first step in an ongoing process which will see positive and substantive outcomes in how product recalls are dealt with in the UK.
We remain very keen to hear views and comments from consumers, businesses, other EU Member States and anyone else - you can send these to us by email at productrecallreview@bis.gsi.gov.uk, by commenting on this blog, or on social media.
Links to Further Reading
Please click here to read the review. And here is a link to the UK government's official response.
You may also wish to read the UK government's press notice for more information.